International tourism is now the predominant industry driving growth in many small island developing states (SIDS). Governments of small islands in the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Pacific have seemingly put most of their eggs into one development basket -the all-inclusive holiday in a luxury hotel, resort or cruise ship. While this industry generates employment, foreign direct investment, and income for island governments and the private sector, it also brings with it dependencies which are borne from the transnational ownership of these allinclusive accommodations, the risks from exogenous factors -many of which are tied to the wider security of the global system -as well as the domestic economies in the source markets in Europe and North America. We reflect upon these dependencies and risks through a case study of the Seychelles based on fieldwork research conducted in 2012. Our findings highlight that the international tourism industry in the Seychelles -even in a situation of high or growing demand -creates structurally driven precarity for tourism workers who are predominantly low paid, low-skilled, and increasingly recruited from overseas. These findings provide new evidence that contributes to the growing research into tourism in IPE.Our findings highlights the precarious condition of labour in this fast growing service sector of the world economy and in so doing also adds much needed empirical insights from the South to recent debates about an emerging precariat in contemporary capitalism.
This paper examines the political economy of tourism development in islands and uses Gili Trawangan, Indonesia as a case study. A longitudinal study drawing from fieldwork contributes to the discussion of how different types of power shape community development, and how the effects of hosting international tourism play an explicit role. Analysis using Barnett and Duvall's Taxonomy of Power model reveals the interplay between the types of power over time and its effects on different actors.Results raise questions for Less Developed Countries, and particularly islands, concerning the social costs of using tourism for development.
Inclusive growth is contested yet adopted by the World Bank to reduce poverty and inequality through rapid economic growth. Research has tested inclusive growth in sectors including agriculture, but few studies apply it to tourism which is significant for many developing countries. The paper interrogates tourism-led inclusive growth: supply chains, economic linkages/leakage, ownership, employment and expenditure. It draws from fieldwork in Vietnam where tourism has rapidly developed with partial economic benefits for local communities, but does not appear to fall within the inclusive growth paradigm. It is unclear if tourism-led growth will become any more inclusive in the short-to-medium term.
Myanmar (formerly Burma) is emerging from almost six decades of international isolation into a period of rapid economic growth. Following moves towards increasing democratisation since 2011, Myanmar's tourism industry has been propelled from ‘tourism pariah’ to rising ‘tourism star’ and is experiencing an extraordinary growth in tourism arrivals with associated revenues and investment. The unique rapidity of Myanmar's recent transition enables an examination of how contemporary forces of globalisation and neoliberalism determine the direction and mode of tourism development from its beginnings. We show how tourism is perceived by the national government as an engine for rural development, conservation and livelihood creation for poor and rural communities. We then demonstrate how this is re‐shaped by a globalised tourism industry into a socially and economically exclusive model which capitalises upon weak governance and disempowered local stakeholders. We conclude with observations which may point towards a more sustainable and responsible tourism industry.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.